As gig workers' incomes have dropped, some Uber and Lyft drivers are turning to apps like GigU, Maxymo, and Mystro to help them work smarter — and dodge the lowest-paying rides.
"They weed out the garbage offers that they're sending you," said Sergio Avedian, a driver and senior contributor to the Rideshare Guy, a gig driver advocacy blog and YouTube channel. "The cherry-pickers always make more money."
Some of the apps have recently encountered roadblocks in the form of rideshare giants Uber and Lyft, which argue that using the third-party apps runs afoul of their terms of service.
Doug Feigelson, the CEO of Mystro, told Business Insider that Uber has sent letters accusing his company of violating its terms of service and interfering with its relationships with drivers.
"We think we're aligned with at least their publicly stated values," Feigelson said, adding that he believes his app promotes driver safety by keeping drivers' eyes on the road. He said he hopes the companies can reach a deal. "But we certainly are worried, especially with Uber's cease-and-desist letters, that they might sue us."
An Uber representative said they wouldn't talk about any specific app, but said "using third-party tools to bypass the system breaks our Community Guidelines and Terms of Service. It hurts riders, other drivers, and the trust that keeps Uber running."
The apps often use an Android phone's accessibility features to read the screen and overlay a widget to guide the driver. Feigelson said Mystro uses ride and delivery apps' application programming interfaces, or APIs, so that drivers can automatically accept and reject offers based on criteria they select, such as the ride's per-mile revenue.
They aren't free, but they say drivers can increase their earnings by more than what the tools cost, which ranges from $5 to $19 a month. Some drivers have previously told BI that they can make more money if they're pickier about the rides they accept, though for Uber drivers, declining rides based on destinations can put their accounts at risk.
Once upon a time, Uber was seen as a technological disruptor, upsetting incumbent taxi companies and bucking outdated local rules on ride services. The company even had a project called Greyball that it used for years to serve up a fake version of the app to regulators.
Now, it's the one cracking down. GigU, which launched in the United States in May, was sued by Uber in Brazil, where it says its app has been downloaded a half-million times. GigU says it has come out ahead, although Uber has said the legal process is ongoing. GigU also said it has filed an antitrust complaint against Uber with CADE, a Brazilian regulator.
Uber said its driver app is transparent about where demand is high and where a particular ride would go and how much a driver would make from it. Transferring credentials violates its terms of service, the representative said.
"Using automation tools, apps, or bots to manipulate the Uber app or access Uber data in any way isn't allowed."
Luiz Gustavo Neves, GigU's CEO and cofounder, also told BI that some of its US users recently got an email from Lyft. The message told gig workers that Lyft had "identified unusual behavior associated with your driver account" and that third-party apps, of which GigU is one, "are not secure and not allowed."
While the message didn't specifically name GigU or any other apps, Lyft's message made the risks to drivers clear: "Your account may be at risk of deactivation."
Since Lyft sent out the message, GigU and Mystro have both sought to argue that using the apps doesn't put drivers' access to Lyft at risk. GigU has published a blog post on its website and answered users' questions on Reddit, Neves said. GigU isn't violating Lyft's terms of service, Neves believes.
A Lyft spokesperson said the group isn't against all third-party apps and says it hasn't disabled any driver accounts for using them. It said that some of the apps cross lines, though it didn't name any.
"Unauthorized apps can harm the user experience and create an unfair marketplace for our drivers, for example by enabling automatic ride cancellations, delaying response times, and disadvantaging those who follow the rules," the spokesperson wrote in an email.
Most ride-hailing and delivery drivers still don't use third-party apps to screen their ride and delivery offers. The UberEatsDrivers forum on Reddit, which is run by drivers and has 76,000 members, says it will ban users who discuss what it calls "cheating apps." The rule singles out Para, which shut down last year, according to Reddit posts by its users.
Minsu Longiaru, an attorney with the worker advocacy group PowerSwitch Action, said it's unsurprising that ride-hailing drivers would turn to third-party apps in hopes of getting an edge. She said her group's recent survey of Uber drivers showed that most of them felt "squeezed and manipulated" by the app and said they often earned less than they expected because offers seemed to get worse as they approached their goals.
"We think that it's fair that drivers should be able to use tools that they have at their disposal to try and make a fair and decent wage," she said. "At the same time, these third-party tools are not a substitute for real protection."
This past fall, Lyft executive Jeremy Byrd said it has made its app more transparent for drivers.
Some drivers and the teams behind the apps are skeptical of the gig apps' claims to be acting in drivers' interests.
"They probably would love it if drivers only worked for their app and if they offered lowball fares and drivers would accept them," Feigelson said.
